Enhancement of the electromechanical behavior of IPMCs based on chitosan/polyaniline ion exchange membranes fabricated by freeze-drying

Abstract

The electromechanical behavior of an ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) based on a chitosan/polyaniline (CP) interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) is influenced by the internal structure of the CP ion exchange membrane. The freeze-drying method was found to be successful in improving the IPMC electromechanical properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations indicated that the ion exchange membranes became more porous after freeze-drying. From swelling ratio and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements, the freeze-dried membranes exhibited a higher swelling ratio and increased free water content. Electron beam deposition was used to manufacture the IPMC metal electrodes. Experiments on the bending of IPMC samples in a direct current electric field showed that the freeze-dried samples had a faster and larger bending motion than non-freeze-dried samples.

Sulfonated polystyrene-based ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) actuator

“…Kim et al fabricated IPMCs based on chitosan-polyaniline ion-exchange membranes using freeze-drying method. Under dc voltage, freeze-dried samples showed a faster and larger bending motion than non-freeze-dried samples, and no back relaxation was observed with time [10]. Phillips and Moore tried sulfonated ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer membranes for IPMC applications.…”

Nanostructural Aspects of Conducting‐Polymer Actuators

“…Freeze-drying was employed to create a highly porous structure, after which a metal layer was added using electron-beam evaporation, to create an actuator which operated under an applied electric field [153,154]. This group has also incorporated conductive PANI/CNT fibers into a chitosan hydrogel composite.…”

Validation of IP²C devices as touch sensors

“…Detailed description of the structure of IPMCs as well as the phisical background and their working principles can be found in several works in literature. Among them, some relevant aspects are addressed in [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10].…”